Prince Li"s expression seemed a little stiff.

But Qian Wu reached the peak of his fury as he clearly saw Fang Zhengzhi running away with his Near-Life Gate.

Did he run away?

Yes, indeed. Along with his Near-Life Gate.

Did he do it intentionally? If he really wanted to save his own life, shouldn"t he drop the Near-Life Gate?

Qian Wu could not be certain. But he was sure of the consequences if Fang Zhengzhi brought it out of the palace.

"Give my Near-Life Gate back!"

"You"re mistaken. This is my Near-Life Gate!" Fang Zhengzhi replied without even turning back, speeding toward the palace gate while carrying the giant Near-Life Gate.

There was a saying that one"s success was dependent on his bravery.

How would he return something that he had already seized?

Would that be silly!

Of course, he wouldn"t sacrifice his life for Prince Li of the First Rank who was only concerned with the Great Xia Dynasty and saving the Emperor and Ping Yang, but not him.

But for him to return something that he had s.n.a.t.c.hed was impossible.

"Boom!"

The Near-Life Gate was smashed on the ground, creating a path between the Palace Guards blocking the way.

Then, Fang Zhengzhi used the Near-Life Gate as a springboard, with a forceful push, he leaped past the contingent of Palace Guards, leaving with a giant vanis.h.i.+ng silhouette.

And watching Fang Zhengzhi leave…

Qian Wu"s was about to erupt. He wanted to get King Xieluo to chase after Fang Zhengzhi but seeing King Xieluo was so close to Emperor Lin Mubai, he hesitated.

But King Xieluo didn"t hesitate.

With a jerk of his shoulder, a ripple of light rays lit up, and the hand that was previously holding down his shoulder was released. Then he rushed toward Fang Zhengzhi.

With insane lightning speed.

Prince Li of the First Rank took a step back in the direction of Emperor Lin Mubai, his expression intense and grave as he furrowed his brows. But he didn"t chase after King Xieluo.

He wasn"t sure if King Xieluo would turn back.

"Uncle, I can handle the situation here, please go to the palace gate now!" As Emperor Lin Mubai watched King Xieluo chasing after Fang Zhengzhi, he spoke after his a few heavy coughs, despite the appalling pallor on his face.

When Prince Li of the First Rank heard Emperor Lin Mubai, his eyes gleamed as he watched King Xieluo run farther and farther away in the distance, and Qian Wu, and Lin Xinjue who was surrounded by the Palace Guards.

Clenching his teeth, he hesitated no further.

"I"ll leave this place to Your Majesty, then!" Finis.h.i.+ng his sentence, Prince Li of the First Rank chased after them immediately.

Everything was a matter of urgency. Fang Zhengzhi indeed ran away, but he also took with him the Near-Life Gate. This meant that he had saved the palace from some disaster.

Although the emperor"s security is of top priority, if the Near-Life Gate landed in the wrong hands, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The rainbow rays glowed again.

And off went the Prince Li of the First Rank in the direction of Fang Zhengzhi and King Xieluo.

Following closely behind King Xieluo were two figures: Yan Xiu and Shan Yu. Their speeds were as fast as him. When King Xieluo gave chase, both had followed along.

"Grandfather bring me along!" Ping Yang exclaimed.

Prince Li of the First Rank squinted his eyes in the distance. With a motion of his palm, the wave of rainbow rays wrapped Ping Yang and brought her beside him.

To Emperor Lin Mubai, Ping Yang"s presence in the palace would only bring harm instead of good.

Prince Li was well aware of this and bringing Ping Yang along would ease Emperor Lin Mubai"s worries. It would make the situation in the palace more manageable.

"They all ran away?" Qian Wu wondered as he watched Prince Li of the First Rank brought Ping Yang with him. He looked at Emperor Lin Mubai and Chen Feihua surrounded by the Dragon Protection Squad, then at the Palace Guards and Southern Army who were still fighting.

He felt that he should continue to stay at the palace.

But…

What for?

To kill Emperor Lin Mubai? Without King Xieluo, and with his Near-Life Gate taken away, it would be impossible to kill Emperor Lin Mubai.

But he couldn"t give up just like that.

Fight till the end!

Qian Wu shot an icy glare and finally joined the battle.

…

In the darkness of the night, a figure dressed in a purple robe leaped over the palace gates from a strange angle, entering the palace with lightning speed.

Lord Chi Hong from the Divine Constabulary.

He rarely did such sneaky entrances for the past few decades, but he didn"t wish to waste any time on the guards at the palace gates.

Though he leaped and jumped and hurdled, his speed never decreased. Instead, he ran faster and faster.

As he approached the Throne Room, he squinted intensely. Because the Throne Room as he had expected was gone.

"Where"s the Throne Room?" Chi Hong was stunned. Then a frightening thought emerged: "Was the Throne Room destroyed?!"

He was petrified at this thought.

"Who are you!" Even if it was Chi Hong, anyone would have been rattled when a shadow emerged from a distance, especially with such a huge shadow.

A ridiculous shadow was cast under a moonlight. And more importantly, that shadow moved unbelievably fast.

Was it a beast?

With this thought, he took a closer look. Then his jaw dropped in a shock.

It was even more shocking than the missing Throne Room!

"Fang Zhengzhi?!" Chi Hong"s mouth was wide agape, uttering a name he would never have expected.

Weren"t his powers wasted?

How could he move so fast?

And how heavy was the giant bronze gate he had raised on his hand?

How could he even lift it?

Wait a moment.

This bronze gate seemed a little familiar…

Chi Hong was absolutely bewildered as countless questions raced through his mind. No matter how he thought, he could never grasp what was happening here.

And Fang Zhengzhi, who was running toward him, lit up when he saw Chi Hong.

Had the heavens heard his prayers and provided a savior?

"My Lord, please save me. Stop the demon behind me!" Fang Zhengzhi didn"t bother with formalities and exclaimed without hesitation.

"Demon? What demon? Weren"t your powers wasted? How can you run so fast? Have you been deceiving me all this while?" Chi Hong shot him a barrage of questions.

"It just a demon easy for you to defeat. But I can"t defeat him. I"ll explain things later, please help me here!" Of course, Fang Zhengzhi couldn"t explain matters like this, so he just stated his requests.

"A small demon?" Chi Hong hesitated briefly. Then he remembered his purpose here – to save the emperor. And any small demon must be killed immediately. As for the issue of Fang Zhengzhi hiding his powers from him, it could be discussed later. "Alright, leave it to me!"

"Thank you, my Lord!" Fang Zhengzhi smiled, then ran past Chi Hong, toward the palace gates without stopping even for a moment.

And Chi Hong continued his way toward the Throne Room"s position.

But…

He didn"t run very far.

Because when Fang Zhengzhi ran past him, his vision suddenly expanded, and he spotted a flickering figure under the moonlight.

The figure was dressed like a scholar in a white robe, a jade pendant shaped like a beast hung at his waist. He had a pale complexion and handsome, exquisite features.

But most importantly, his eyes seemed freaky, almost devilish.

Dark green rays filled his eyes, and the "scar" on his forehead blinked slowly. His most obvious feature? Two curved horns at the top of his head.

Under the moonlight, it s.h.i.+mmered in with a golden hue.

"A person?!" Chi Hong stopped dead in his tracks. Once again, he was shocked as he watched the figure charge toward him in breakneck speed. "f.u.c.k, how is this a small demon?"

Chi Hong really felt like screaming at Fang Zhengzhi, even more so if he could pin him down and punch his face.

He could tolerate Fang Zhengzhi deceiving him about his powers being wasted.

But how could he say that that Demon King was just some small demon?

"Fang Zhengzhi, you stand right there!" Chi Hong shouted at Fang Zhengzhi. Within his mission of saving the emperor in mind, he couldn"t just run away like Fang Zhengzhi.

"My Lord, I believe in you, you can do it. It"s just a mere Demon King!" Fang Zhengzhi replied without stopping.

Chi Hong was speechless.

Then his eyes turned toward the huge bronze gate Fang Zhengzhi was holding up. And in an instant, a name flashed in his mind.

The Near-Life Gate!

Wait a minute, he was holding the Near-Life Gate?

How was it possible!

Of course, Chi Hong had seen the Near-Life Gate in the past. But he would never have expected that the Near-Life Gate would be lifted by Fang Zhengzhi, and with that, Fang Zhengzhi could run at such a speed?

Could it be that this guy had mastered the Near-Life Dao? That"s even more impossible. The Near-Life Dao was a secret technique of the Northern Barbarians royal family, how could Fang Zhengzhi have mastered it?

The more he thought, the more confused he became.

Then…

He ran.

He was helpless as the Demon King was approaching. As he ascertained what Fang Zhengzhi was holding was indeed the Near-Life Gate, naturally, he had some clues.

If the Near-Life Gate was in Fang Zhengzhi"s hands, and he was chased by the Demon King, then he was sure that protecting the Near-Life Gate was more important.

With this reasoning, Chi Hong was able to run quickly without any concern.

"Hey, Fang Zhengzhi, you stand right there. Tell me, are you holding the Northern Barbarians" Near-Life Gate?" Chi Hong shouted as he ran toward Fang Zhengzhi.

"Oh? My lord, you know your stuff well. But now, this Near-Life Gate is mine!" Fang Zhengzhi corrected Chi Hong.

"Your Near-Life Gate? You"re beyond shameless!" Chi Hong chided.

But he was very surprised.

Was it really the Near-Life Gate? What was going on? And what was happening in the palace?

Fang Zhengzhi realized something was amiss because Chi Hong"s voice was obviously not far away. Then he looked behind.

"s.h.i.+t. Go fight the small demon, why are you following me?"

"f.u.c.k your small demon. You think I"m stupid? It"s obviously the Demon King!" Chi Hong snapped back.

"But you"re the Divine Lord of the Northern Lands! Can"t you defeat a mere Demon King?" Fang Zhengzhi continued to run as he replied.

"I can"t defeat him!" Chi Hong wasn"t at all embarra.s.sed to say that. Then he asked: "What"s going on in the palace? How"s His Majesty?"

"Good question, my lord. I"ll tell you for a hundred thousand pieces of silver!" Fang Zhengzhi grew hopeful with the palace gate in sight.

"You still care about silver at this juncture? Don"t you fear I"ll go back on my word?"

"Oh, I really don"t. As the Divine Lord who is rus.h.i.+ng to save the emperor in the palace but was scared away by the Demon King, do you think this will make an interesting story when people talk about it in the restaurants?"

"How dare you threaten me!" Chi Hong"s was shocked, then he clenched his teeth and replied anyway. "Alright, a hundred thousand pieces of silver it is!"

"The Throne Room is destroyed; the emperor is still alive."

"And?"

"That"s all."

"…"

Chi Hong felt as though he had poured a hundred thousand pieces of silver in the drain. But as least he knew Emperor Lin Mubai was safe, and that relieved him.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"My lord, you"re silly. Don"t you know that the last in line will the first to suffer?" Fang Zhengzhi didn"t bother looking back as he charged with full speed toward the palace gate.

"…" Chi Hong was speechless.

And at this moment, the surprised palace guards rushed toward them and aimed their spears at Fang Zhengzhi.

Just like how Chi Hong felt when he saw Fang Zhengzhi. Millions of questions emerged in their minds. It was utter disbelief.

But these questions didn"t seem important anymore.

Because the Near-Life Gate that Fang Zhengzhi was holding was about to fall.

"Boom!" A deafening crash.

Tiny stones flew out upon impact and a giant creva.s.se appeared on the ground, reaching the palace gates from Fang Zhengzhi"s foot. The huge shockwave made forced the Palace Guards to retreat.

At the moment when the Near-Life Gate was dropped, Fang Zhengzhi leaped insanely high, across the towering palace walls.

"This brat…" Chi Hong was once again totally astounded.